You have to start with the thousand years. It should be the easiest to find and it is easy to find as long as you are not looking for Jesus to reign. Chapter twenty does not say Jesus will reign even though many think so. It says the saints will reign with Christ and any time two or more are gathered in His name, He said He would be with them. The Byzantine Empire consisted of a whole lot of Christians gathered in His name and they reigned for over a thousand years.
So far so good but what about Babylon the Great, the two beasts, and that number 666? Can we find candidates that will fit in with this Byzantine Empire? We can and will. So who or what was chained for a thousand years? The best place to look is at the end of the thousand years and we will find the greatest empire ever being replaced by the second greatest empire, The Ottoman Empire. The two greatest empires were closely associated with the two greatest religions, Christianity and Islam. So if you look at the history of Islam, it immediately becomes our primary candidate for the second beast, which is the fourth beast of Daniel, different from all the others. Later we may add a discussion of the four beasts of Daniel and how the last two of Daniel are the two beasts of the Apocalypse. It all has to do with the temple. Two of them destroyed it, one of them defiled it, and the last one is preventing the third temple. More on this later but we need to look at the first beast from the sea that was mortally wounded and later replaced by the second. Here most will take the Roman Empire, which did destroy the second temple, but I think it is really paganism, the religion closely associated with that empire. This is all about religion. Now it is just a matter of locating seven heads and ten horns. While everyone else is counting kings I was able to find dynasties. Seven for the Roman Empire and ten Islamic dynasties.
The Byzantine Empire also comes with the perfect Babylon the Great. Constantinople satisfies more of the criteria than any other city. In fact no other city even comes close. Let’s look at the criteria; mystery, many waters, seven hills, trade, fallen, and found no more. Rome satisfies only two at the most.
So what about 666? It is a year but you have to use the right calendar. Let’s look at what happened in the year 666 of our current calendar. Nothing. Historians have been very careful to stay away from that year. So let’s assume that their dating isn’t as accurate as they think it is and allow for an error of a few years. We can then consider the first attack on Constantinople by the second beast Islam. This one event connects the second beast with Constantinople and the year 666. There’s more. Greek fire was used to defend the city and the Sea of Marmara on a calm day has been described as a sea of glass. Put all this together and you have a nice fit for:
Revelation 15:2
King James Version (KJV)
2And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
That is just one calendar, which really wasn’t in effect until 1582. What about the calendar being used before that? Julius started it in 46 BC but he was assassinated two years later and there is such a thing as regnal years. If you add 44 to 622 the year Mohammed moved from Mecca to Medina, you get 666. That is the year the Islamic calendar starts. That is his number and it can be calculated if you have wisdom.
We already have a lot pieces that fit. There are more and this is my favorite part because no one else has suggested it. This is unique
The rider of the white horse is Constantine from the white sea
The rider of the red horse is Mohammed from the red sea, Antichrist
The rider of the black horse is Marx from the black sea, communism
The rider of the pale horse is with us now
So you say Constantine did not come from the White Sea? This is true but did you know that even today the Turks refer to the Mediterranean Sea as the white sea? It is a rough sea with what they call white caps, which makes it look white. Also did you know that bow in Genesis means covenant? Constantine started the Christian empire that was to last over a thousand years. It would not have happened without divine intervention.
To be continued…….
books used in my research
Threads:
gather in His name
the time is near
I ate the book
